Taking a Shot
by DeerInTheLimelight
Summary: Beacon has seen many students come and go, and each of them has their own story to tell and secrets they dread revealing. Their back to their past, they strive for the opportunity to become defenders of humanity - yet none of them expected to sign up for intrigues both in and out of Beacon.
1. Chapter 1

While she ran through the forest, there was only one thought on her mind, and looking back, it was foolish and out of place.

Had she been reasonable, she might have paid special attention to each step she took, weary that from any direction a wild Grimm could appear and engage her in a fight without warning. She was not foolish enough to believe that she was immortal and could handle everything this forest threw at her with ease, but still, she could not bring herself to fear the depths of the forest. She would scold herself for her carelessness eventually, but there was a more pressing matter at hand.

Ozpin had made it very clear that her future at the academy was predetermined by the moment she laid eyes upon a fellow student. Not the "love at first sight"-kind. She did not worry about that, anyway. She was still in school, love would come and go like one switched their favourite colour. From a lifelong commitment to an hourly change, everything would be possible. To be honest, she was even excited to find out which tendency it was for her. Though truth to be told, she was not too thrilled about it after the last time.

When she spotted the person in front of her, she had to blink twice. She did not trust her vision enough to believe that she had just stumbled upon the girl she had been looking for since the moment this crazy initiation had begun.

Her unsuspecting prey was wandering around the forest unsuspectingly, looking around for something only she knew. Despite being launched into the air and falling from the sky, her hair was still perfect with her barret neatly sitting on top, stylishly pulled to the right. It had been easier to find her than she had expected, despite the brown-black outfit camouflaging her among the trees.

And, the best of it all, she was alone. As the girl turned towards her, the other took her chance.

"You're going to be my teammate," Raspberry announced, a finger stretched out at Coco Adel.

"And why would that be?" The other girl angled her head, curious.

"Because I chose you. You heard what Ozpin said: 'The first one you look into the eyes will be your teammate'."

Coco smirked, her slight dimples disappearing behind her dark sunglasses. "That's hardly a choice on my part. Not very fair, if you ask me."

Raspberry shrugged. "It hasn't been much of a choice for most of us. It's out of your hand the second you run into someone in the forest—unless you're playing it smart, that is."

At that, Coco's smile widened. "Sorry to disappoint you, but you're not the only tactician around. So you'll excuse me now, I've to find someone."

"Wait!" Raspberry shouted after her. "What do you mean? Our gaze met. You can't undo that and choose someone else!"

Coco did not turn around as she said: "Yes, I did. And you're not the person I'm looking for."

Raspberry crossed her arms in defiance as she stalked after her. If this girl did not want to listen to reason, she would have to try harder. "You know, I thought you'd be flattered that I picked you out."

"Flattered?" Coco replied with a lazy gaze back at her. "Don't make me laugh. I know I'm a damn competent fighter, but I'd never go on a team with someone who has the nerve to claim me." Coco shook her head dismissively and pointed at her sunglasses. "That's why I'm wearing these—so it's impossible for anyone to look me in the eyes. I've already made my decision with whom I'll team up." And at that, she gripped her handbag and punched the nearest tree. It shook with the impact and Raspberry let out a short shriek as something fell down. Something too big and massive to live up in a tree. A Grimm?

No, not something—someone!

He was a mixture of dark red and brown, almost invisible among the maple leaves and branches. Coco knelt beside him, so close that it spoke of intimacy and trust. She lifted his chin with two fingers and leaned in closer. The boy was too confused to react, his white eyes darting everywhere. He did not close them as Raspberry had expected of him. It was what happened in movies, after all.

Then again, the girls in them rarely lifted their sunglasses and remarked: "And you doubted that I'd find you. I'm rather glad I did, though. Imitating animal noises is a horrible plan."

The boy laughed, letting her pull him up. "No, it isn't. I told you I'd make a brilliant fox."

At that, she ruffled his hair, putting her sunglasses back in place. "Too bad we'll never find out what they say. Alas, let's find the relics."

"What about the other one?" he asked, eyes looking towards Raspberry's direction. "Who is she, anyway?"

"Beats me. Some sort of fangirl of mine. I didn't expect to have such a reputation, to be honest."

"I'm not a fangirl!" Raspberry protested with more emotion than she had anticipated. "I just thought you'd make a good teammate, that's all. I wouldn't have thought you'd be so antisocial, though."

Coco sighed. "It's nothing personal. If it makes you feel any better, I would have turned anyone down but Fox—but if you insist, you can come with us. It's dangerous to go alone."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll manage on my own. Just you wait. I'll find someone better!" At that, she tramped off, deeper into the forest.

"Worse people have been killed during initiation," Coco observed, calling after her. The girl turned her head away but did not respond otherwise as she marched deeper into the woods. Coco sighed. "And here I was, thinking we've found our third teammate. It would've been nice to have someone worshipping me."

Fox huffed. "No, it wouldn't. She would've annoyed you to no end before we'd made it out of these woods."

"I suppose you're right. Well then, let's find those relics—and the other half of our team."

* * *

Rajah had never been so glad to have no one around for miles as he beheld the sniveling, crying mess in front of him that used to be his childhood friend. "I'm so sorry I couldn't keep my promise," she cried out, her words barely intelligible.

"Don't worry, Yotsuba. I'm not mad at you," he assured her with the most soothing voice possible. "I guess that's what they intended. If they'd wanted us to choose, they would've let us vote or whatever. Cheer up, everything will be fine. Besides, a team consists of two pairs, right? We could still end up together."

That cheered her up alright. "I bet we will. After all, I haven't been lucky with my teammate, so that should work out to even the odds!" She smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Sure, why not." He didn't feel as convinced as his friend, but then again, Yotsuba's life had always played out like she was the embodiment of the goddess of luck. It had started when her parents had finally been able to have a child despite all the miscarriages, which was why they had named her after the 4-leaf clover.

For as long as they had known each other, Yotsuba had always been convinced that there were only two consistencies in the world: Either you were lucky, or you were not. And, a more recent correction, shaped by the wisdom she had acquired over the years: You could never really be sure which one was truly the case.

"Speaking of which, what's your teammate like?" Rajah felt slightly bad for talking about but not to her. Then again, Yotsuba had not bothered to introduce her and the girl did not seem eager to go first, either.

"Weird," she confessed, glaring at her sideways. The stranger sat on a stump, legs dangling slightly over the edge, hands hanging down at her side. She was slightly slumped, but it might have been the dress. Out of all the outfits he had seen this day, hers was truly the most outstanding. Where most girls their age tried to catch someone else's gaze with too little clothing, her dress must weigh several kilos. It was layer upon layer of brown and white cloth, clearly a girl's definition of fancy and festive, but just as much out of place in a forest.

It made him remember the movies he had watched with Yotsuba when they had been little, all those adaptations of 'prince meets princess' cloaked in fairy tales. Perhaps that was just what she was, a little girl lost in the forest, waiting for her destined other to save her. If that was the case, she must have deemed this outcome of pairs just as unfavourable as Yotsuba.

He resented to gain something out of someone's misery, but if he happened to stumble upon the right partner, they might form a contract to become a group of four – or two times two, given that it would be hard to get the girls together. Plus, as history had proven, his relationships with boys had always been … complex, to say the least.

Rayfa chuckled and gave Yotsuba a sideways look. "Weirs as opposed to …?" he teased her, getting an adorable pout as an answer.

"Me, for instance. You can't possibly compare us. I'm way more agreeable."

 _And far more eccentric_ , he thought to himself but was wise enough not to say it out loud. Still, it had some truth to it. The other girl seemed like someone who would leave you alone when she had no business with you, while Yotsuba would engage exactly half of the strangers in a conversation as that was the amount she deemed worthy. Whether or not this had happened to the other girl and may even be the cause of her silence was impossible to tell. Still, ignoring her was one way to scatter Yotsuba's interest in you.

"Can't deny that," he answered, slightly uncomfortable where the conversation headed. Yotsuba would not pursue any relationship when she felt that it was going nowhere, but Rajah still could not bring himself to talk about someone else in a criticising way when the person in question was so close—although he tended to forget the small girl occasionally as she seemed to blend into the background like banal furniture. Then he realized what he had just compared her to and shot her an apologetic look.

If this out of the blue reaction surprised her at all, she did not show it. She just kept glancing straight ahead, like her world was reduced down to her imagination of it.

Rajah sighed. Dealing with them would be harder than he had expected. "Well, for the time being, it can't hurt to work together. Guess we'll have to get along somehow."

"Really? I was considering to let nature run its cause." Whether or not Yotsuba was joking, he could not tell but decided not to take any chances. He walked up to where the girl was sitting and was surprised to see that her eyes did follow him, though she did not turn her head. He supposed he was lucky that he got to meet her in broad daylight, for he would already be backing off had it been in a dark corridor at school. He made a mental note to himself to consider sleeping with his weapon under the pillow, just in case.

* * *

Salutations, everyone. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my fanfiction. Please let me know of any criticism you have, as well as any mistakes or messed-up phrases (I know you're out there *squints into the darkness*). Since I don't like randomly messaging people, it would be nice if anyone could recommend a good betareader (or themselves) to me. Help will be rewarded with digital cookies.

I hope you're excited for the next chapter. There are more OCs to come (in fact, as this story is one year prior to the show, you'll have a lot of them to look forward to).

DITL


	2. Chapter 2

Domino heard her screams from far away, but after sprinting to where the sound came from, he stopped dead in his tracks and reconsidered. He listened closely, but save for the high-pitched "Help!" and "Grimm!", the forest stayed quiet. Whoever had been unfortunate enough to cross paths with the creature, she was alone. And so was he. Whatever he decided to do would determine his future. Not the "die or live" kind of way, but success or failure of his social standing. By all logic, the girl would become one of his teammates the moment he set eyes on her – and he would prefer someone he would not have to keep from becoming something's next meal.

Then again, the matter would resolve itself if he hesitated much longer.

"My hero," someone shrieked. He looked up bewildered, trying to figure out why he had missed the person standing beside him. On another note, someone - anyone - who screamed this was probably nuts, so he settled for the explanation that there simply wasn't anyone to see anyway.

A second later she was in front of him, a bright mixture of lemon and lime and grinning broadly like she'd just bitten into both. His gaze flickered too far up to her light green eyes and he cursed. Anyone but Lady Sunshine here, thank you very much. He cursed a second time as she padded him on the shoulder, jumping up a little to reach it, and ran past him. Once she was out of his line of vision, safely hidden behind his back, a Grimm appeared behind her. It had a bulky grey body covered with white bones while each of his four legs was massive enough to smash Domino's bones. Its snout was broad, with two white horns sticking up from it.

"There's the beast to slay. And now go and save your princess, my radiant hero," she told him, smiling both faithfully and pleadingly at him. She gave him a gentle but firm push, and he stumbled to meet his enemy.

Domino sighed inwardly. So he'd not just teamed up with the damsel of the bunch, but had also signed up for a lifetime of saving her sorry a-

The Grimm charged, clearly not interested in Domino's mental struggles. Given that he didn't want to worsen his day by being impaled on the beast's horn, he quickly pulled his spear and flung it towards the Grimm. It struck the ground several meters in front of it, but Domino had hit exactly what he had aimed for. Surprised, the Grimm halted and evaded the weapon, slowing down considerably. Just as planned, it gave Domino enough time to grip Knack, its calibre big enough to shoot a Nevermore out of the sky – or so his father had claimed when they had assembled it the summer before school. Surely it would work its way through the Grimm's bony armour. However, training had shown that the size had its toll. Reloading was a hassle, taking too long to go for the easiest option of covering the enemy in a rain of bullets, and the recoil had almost knocked him off his feet. Even if he had the time, he had a limited amount of six bullets at the ready before had to reload, and just in case, he did not feel like wasting them all in one go.

While the enemy reconsidered its aim, he gestured for his companion to get closer to the trees. He did not like to have the one he wanted to protect out of reach, but if the monster chose to strike, she was safer between the trees where it could not chase her so easily. She obliged with hesitant steps. He felt the words rise in his throat, the urge to yell at her to move, but he kept them to himself. He could not afford to have his concentration anywhere but on the target. Meanwhile, he gripped the handle tighter, both hands on the gun, steadying his aim.

The enemy turned towards him, eyes fixed on his face. He did not feel like telling the lie that he chose to be the target deliberately, but better he would be the one fighting than her, he guessed. After all, even if he fled and left her to her own devices, it wouldn't take long for the beast to chase him afterward. He might as well slay it there on the spot.

The Grimm aimed at him with its horn and Domino felt the familiar surge of adrenaline rushing through his blood. His fingers itched to tighten, to pull the trigger and send the bullet flying through its skull, smashing whatever was beneath it. He forced himself to stay calm, not to lose focus as the decisive moment neared. If he messed up, the enemy would be warned, knowing his means of attack. He doubted Grimm were smart enough to take advantage of that, but then and there, he did not feel like testing his hypothesis.

"Go on, kill it!" the girl behind him shouted, waving her hands encouragingly.

"Shut up! I'm trying to concentrate!" Domino replied, seconds before he felt the impact on his side. It lifted him off his feet. He waited for the pain to tell him he was about to die from a massive stab wound, but it was the other side that hurt as he slithered over the ground. He cried out in pain as his right side burned. The enemy roared and Domino snapped his head up just in time to see it stomp toward him. The ground vibrated at each step.

He turned his protesting body around, pointed his gun at the Grimm's head and fired three times. The last one was barely a grazing shot as it already tumbled to the ground. The beast's body fell on top of him and something warm spread across the fabric of his checked shirt. He fought the urge to look down, already feeling queasy. The metallic stench settled it and with a shiver of disgust, he kicked himself free from the already dissolving body, bringing a good distance between him and the thing as he staggered toward the girl. She was grinning broadly as she came running to him.

He felt the desire to kill her the same way.

"What do you think you were doing? I almost died over there!" he shouted at her, feeling only a slight tinge of remorse as she looked at him wide-eyed with tears welling up in her eyes.

"That's called encouraging. That's what all females do when the hero is fighting to save them."

Domino looked at her for a long moment, not knowing where to call her stupidity out first. "Okay, I don't know who you are, and frankly, I don't want to –"

"Clementine," she supplied with a pout as if revealing that information pained her tremendously. "Clementine Cerise Persimmon."

Domino silently mouthed her name, wondering whether her mother had given birth to her in the fruit department of some supermarket. "Fine, Clementine, listen up."

"Mini," she interrupted yet again. "That's what all my friends call me."

"Doesn't matter. I usually don't consider those who try to kill me as friends, so there's no need for that." With growing irritation, he observed that her smile was coming back.

"Usually? Does that mean I'm the exception? Oh, I knew you were just playing hard to get!" she cried out and a moment later, she jumped up and had her arms around his neck. Not suffocating him, like he might have preferred, for it would end this torture in an instant, but like a reunited lover.

He shoved her off, although he could not bring himself to be as harsh as he had intended.

She announced: "Well then, onward. After all, we have a quest. Next objective: Finding the secret relic in the heart of the forest – and stopping at the next water to wash the smell out. Heroes aren't supposed to reek of blood."

"It's hardly a secret after our headmaster announced it for everyone to hear," Domino muttered. "Plus we don't know whether it's really in there. For all we know, it might be deep inside a cave filled with Grimm."

"I can't hear you, you're ruining the fun!" she scolded him as she dragged him deeper into the woods.


	3. Chapter 3

The first thought that came to her mind was that a man this massive should not be able to do a headstand and look so perfectly at ease. He also should not be able to move by flapping his legs up and forth.

It took some time to realize what was going on and to attribute her mental slowness to the fact that her brain was not used to this pressure of blood pumping into it. "Hi," she managed when he stood in front of her, her face feeling peculiar whenever she moved a muscle. "The person you're saving's called Esther."

The man chuckled, higher than she would have imagined. It felt like meeting a bear revealing itself as a racoon. "I'm," he paused shortly, "you're saviour's Yatsuhashi."

"Just kidding about that." She giggled, only interrupted by being startled as he suddenly pulled her from the tree. She instinctively closed her eyes, but instead of free falling to the ground, he caught her safely in his arms. Relieved, she smiled at him. "That's some pitiful sight, isn't it? Whenever someone had to come to get me down, my mother would say that they picked a star from the sky – granting you a wish, you know? I'm afraid of heights, you see. And rambling when I'm nervous, but I guess you've guessed at least that by now."

"Oh, I see," he said and hastily let her down. Clumsily, she landed on her feet, staggering a little as they remembered how it was to carry her weight. "Better now?"

"Just slightly," she answered, barely keeping herself from giggling anew as he understood the implication.

Yatsuhashi cleared his throat. "Well, I guess there's nothing else to do here."

Esther nodded, gazing once more over the spot between these unremarkable trees. "Any ideas? I haven't exactly gotten a good overview as I was busy not to turn into a trembling mess." Given that she still hid her hands in her pockets and shifted her standing from one leg to the other to get rid of the adrenaline released by the prospect of imminent death, she had not been very successful.

"Well, I guess going higher up to scout the parameter is out of the question," he remarked.

Esther huffed, somewhere between joking and anxious. "I'll have your back." She shouldered her weapon from where it had fallen down.

"That's my speciality. You look more like a..." he stopped, taking her in. "Beats me," he finally explained with a forgiving smile.

"Search'n rescue; resilient body, extensive knowledge, you name it."

"Shouldn't you know where to head then?" he asked, one eyebrow crooked upwards.

"S'n r in training," she muttered, scowling at him or herself, she couldn't really tell.

Yatsuhashi shrugged. "We all are. How 'bout walking straight ahead?"

Esther smiled. "Honestly, I bet that's what they do, too – they just won't admit it."

At that, she marched forward, weapon ready. He heard him draw his massive sword from his back, falling into step behind her. Esther nodded to herself. That was a formation she could work with.

Rajah had kept his eyes open for any signs of Grimm, while Yotsuba was just happy accompanying him. She walked in front of him, looking around for anything beautiful while his eyes scanned the shades of the trees for the darkness beneath.

So naturally, both were completely unprepared for what they met once they stepped out of the woods. It was impossible to say who noticed whom first, but from one moment to the other, there stood five people, equally relieved that what they stumbled upon had a soul. In an instant, the blonde girl was on her way to them, while the lanky boy just rolled his eyes about her before he proclaimed: "Well, that certainly makes things easier."

Rajah and Yotsuba shared a mutually confused look. Neither of them had expected to meet anyone else before they would make it to the relics. However, Yotsuba was quick to decide what she thought about it. She moved her arms up, closed her hands into fists and pulled them back down to her chest in a gesture of major achievement. "Lucky me," she chimed, just before Clementine closed up to them.

"Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you! Well, anyone, to be honest, but that does not make it any less pleasant, am I right? I don't think we met before. I'm Clementine, by the way, and that grumpy guy is Domino. Please forgive his attitude, he's been up against a rhino Grimm, so he's probably just exhausted. I'm sure he's actually a good guy – or at least decent."

Said person had just closed up to them only to be hugged by Clementine. It was awkward to see, especially since she only reached his chest. "Don't embarrass me like that again," he muttered and pulled himself free from the limpet.

She let go of him with a pout. "Just what I meant," she said pointing at him. "Who are you, by the way?"

"My name's Yotsuba, and that's my friend Rajah," she explained. Luckily, she refrained from doing the same as Clementine, because that would have been the end of his tries to pass off as just friends. During all his school life, none had believed this fact, even though there had never been anything going on that was not purely platonic. Looking back, there had been a lot more obvious suspects in school, but apparently, they did not have the same excitement to them.

"And who are you?" Clementine continued and moved between them, wiggling like a curious snake. Rajah and Yotsuba turned around to follow where her attention went, only to mentally slap their hand against their forehead that they had forgotten about the girl again.

"I'm Nougat," she said, and Rajah was surprised to hear her speak for the first time. She had a sweet, silent voice, pleasant for the ears to hear. In a way, she sounded as fragile as she looked like she would shatter to pieces when they applied too much pressure. Once they were on the same team, he would have to be extra careful to remind Yotsuba to be nice to her.

"Aaand now I'm hungry, thank you very much. Do you have any sweets with you, by any chance?" Clementine asked, her expression the definition of "pretty please?".

The only thing that came to mind when he saw her Nougat's face was polite repulsion. "I'm afraid I don't. I have to disappoint you." Rajah could not help but feel let down by the fact that she had never spoken a word to him during their whole trip only minutes before. If he had known that she was such a nice person, he would definitely have tried to engage her in a conversation repeatedly. Then again, she might just be one of those who was uncomfortable to start a conversation.

The opportunity was gone and passed now, anyway, so there was no reason to be conflicted about it, he decided. During the 4 years that were to follow, there was enough time to get to know each other better and develop a few friendships along the way.

Clementine shrugged it off. "You know what? Once we're out of these woods, we'll enjoy them together, so let's get right to it," she announced before she walked ahead. To be precise, it was not really a walk, more like jumping steps.

Rajah was surprised to see Domino follow as he fell in line beside Yotsuba just as she had made her first step. She turned around and said over her shoulder: "You know, you could have talked to us." It took Rajah a moment to notice that despite her gaze, the words were not directed at him, but Nougat, who walked in his shadow.

Despite the confrontation, she was still smiling. "I was under the impression that you did not wish to be talked to, so I did not press the matter."

Yotsuba opened her mouth to reply something, but when all she did was stare at her blankly while her mind came up with retorts it immediately dismissed, she dropped the subject. "Yeah, whatever," she just said and quickened her steps to where even Rajah had trouble keeping up the pace although he was used to walking beside her.

She rummaged in her pockets until she drew out a coin. The second she got her hand free, it was already tossed high above their heads with the snip of skilled fingers. She caught it out of the air without any effort and placed it on the back of her left hand. Rajah looked at her with mild curiosity. He knew that in Yotsuba's bottomless pockets, she carried different coins and dices for different occasions and decisions, so each of them was used to make a decision about a specific aspect. However, it was not as simple as it seemed with these categories. The coin for love affairs had also been taken for the question of whether she should go to Beacon, because as Yotsuba had explained, it would mean to leave all her loved ones behind. Rajah had not known what to say about that when she had told him this story, given that because of him, she knew the impact of the decision.

When he saw the coin lighted up by the sunlight, he realised that he should have guessed it. The dark azure had been chosen for the deep waters of friendships, for choices your happiness depended on. Only when he had been forced to leave her behind, he had realised that there was some truth to regarding your friends as your second family. It was then that he had realised that they might be of equal, yet different importance: Your family was the one sticking to you no matter what, connected to you by invisible ties, no matter how often they were strained or attempted to cut. Sometimes, they became thinner over time or pulled so hard at you that it hurt. But no matter what you did, it was impossible to separate them from you from the day you were born, when they gave you the gift of life, to the day you died, when all your memory of them faded with you from this earth.

Yet friends were a more fragile, temporal construct. It was your own decision who you tied your bonds with, and, if need be, who to free yourself from. Perhaps it was this very transience that made them so precious.


End file.
